LIVE BLOG: Backstage at the HFPA's 69th Annual Golden Globe Awards!

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THR's awards analyst Scott Feinberg provides his advance predictions, a play-by-play of the show, and soundbites from the winners.

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10:58pm PST: BEST PICTURE (DRAMA) – FILM

Nominees: The Descendants (Fox Searchlight), The Help (DreamWorks), Hugo (Paramount), The Ides of March (Sony), Moneyball (Sony), War Horse (Disney) Presenter(s): Harrison Ford Projection: The Descendants

Winner: THE DESCENDANTSCommentary: News Corporation chair Rupert Murdoch is the first person to congratulate writer-producer Payne as his film holds off the late surge of The Help to win the best picture (drama) Globe and, in so doing, position itself -- at least in terms of perception -- as the primary challenger to The Artist for the best picture Oscar. If this awards season could be likened to the GOP presidential primary, and tonight could be likened to the Iowa caucuses, then The Artist is Mitt Romney, and The Descendants just became Rick Santorum! (As for Gervais? Fairly benign this year, no?)

Winner: GEORGE CLOONEY (THE DESCENDANTS)Commentary: Clooney gets a standing ovation from much of the audience, greets Poitier, and gives gracious shoutouts to fellow nominee Pitt ("I'm a fan) and Fassbender (for "taking over the frontal nudity responsibility that I had"), writer-director Payne, and the HFPA.

Winner: THE ARTISTCommentary: The film's dog-star Uggy joins its human-star Dujardin on the stage as producer Thomas Langmann accepts the award for his black-and-white silent film, the most unlikely best picture contender -- let alone winner -- in many a moon. Langmann acknowledges his late father, another great producer; Harvey Weinstein, whose new nickname is apparently "The Punisher"; and especially writer-director Hazanavicius. This win would seem to confirm The Artist's status as the -- or at least one of the top two -- best picture Oscar frontrunners.

Winner: MERYL STREEP (THE IRON LADY)Commentary: Streep looks genuinely shocked as her name is called (and received with a standing ovation) -- indeed, Davis had become the presumptive frontrunner after her win over Streep at last Thursday's Critics' Choice Awards, which were awarded by the constituency that seemed most likely to honor her. With her eighth Globe win (on her almost-incomprehensible 26th nomination!), Streep extends her record. She graciously acknowledges her co-stars and other lower-profile performances like Adepero Oduye's in Pariah and Mia Wasikowska's in Jane Eyre, and closes by saying, "I love you Viola -- you're my girl!

Gervais is back! He introduces fellow Brit Colin Firth, "What you don't know about him is he's very racist -- I've also seen him punch a blind kitten." Firth takes it in good humor, laughing, fake-kicking him, and then making him the subject of a joke.

Queen Latifah introduces a clip of the best picture (drama) nominee The Help.

Winner: JEAN DUJARDIN (THE ARTIST)Commentary: The Frenchman gets his Hollywood star-turn with a victory here that seems to confirm that he and Clooney will duke it out for the best actor Oscar, and is certainly appreciated by The Weinstein Company following disappointing but not altogether unexpected losses for best director, best supporting actress, and best screenplay. He closes charmingly by saying, "As [silent era movie star] Douglas Fairbanks would say, '[mouths words silently and then dances like his character does following the premiere of the film within the film The Artist].'"

Michelle Pfeiffer introduces a clip of best picture (drama) nominee War Horse.

Winner: MODERN FAMILYCommentary: The series' Globe-nominated star Sofia Vergara (in Spanish) and show-runner Steven Levitan (fake-translating what she's saying into English) accept the show's first best series Globe.

Gervais retakes the stage holding a glass of wine and introduces the next two presenters, Spaniards Antonio Banderas and Salma Hayek. He said, "They're probably very interesting -- I wouldn't know because I can't understand a fucking word they're saying." (On the screen on which I'm seeing the Globes, at least, his curse word was not censored... could he be thrown off the rest of the show?)

Winner: MARTIN SCORSESE (HUGO)Commentary: Scorsese, who has been on a roll lately, beats presmptive Oscar frontrunner Hazanavicius and receives a lengthy standing ovation. He calls his win a "great honor," thanks the HFPA for "the extraordinary work that you do on the preservation and restoration of cinema" (on which he has long collaborated with them, which may have factored into this outcome), and credits his 12-year-old daughter with giving him the idea for this film (which he says his wife encouraged him to make because then his daughter could finally see one of his films!).

Robert Downey, Jr. -- a prime target of Gervais' wrath last year -- takes the stage to introduce a clip of best picture (musical or comedy) nominee The Artist (which he calls a "daring and euphoric" film).

(Happening now...)

Screen legend Sidney Poitier, a three-time Golden Globe winner and recipient of the HFPA's Cecil B. DeMille lifetime achievement award, comes out, receives a standing ovation, and -- in his inimitable way -- pays tribute to his friend Morgan Freeman the recipient of this year's DeMille award. "In my humble opinion, Sir, you are indeed a prince in the profession you have chosen. We thank you, Mr. Freeman, for raising the level of excellence yet another notch. Welcome aboard, Morgan Freeman. May your journey be long and your character continue to multiply. Congratulations!" Dame Helen Mirren then takes the stage and jokes that she has "a bone to pick" with Freeman, because he's made over fifty films -- among them classics such as Driving Miss Daisy (1989), Glory (1989), Unforgiven (1992), The Shawshank Redemption (1994), Se7en (1995), and Million Dollar Baby (2004) -- but she has been in only one (the 2010 film Red). She then introduces a montage of his work. Freeman tells Mirren, "Watching you handle a gun [on Red] makes me know I never want to piss you off," and tells Poitier, "Being up here receiving this award -- this tribute that you yourself received -- getting it from you makes it clear to me that, though they call it the Cecil B. DeMille Award, in my house it will also be known as the Sidney Poitier Award." He adds, "For the past 45 years I've never had to work a day in my life!"

Reese Witherspoon introduces a clip of best picture (drama) nominee The Descendants (which she notes was directed by "my friend" -- her Election writer and director Alexander Payne).

Danes is now backstage chatting with the press and cracks, "We should all be very grateful that I am not actually in homeland security, because we would not be very secure!"

Winner: OCTAVIA SPENCER (THE HELP)Commentary: Spencer, who has been acting in bit parts for the past 15 years, wins (over her co-star Jessica Chastain) for her first truly substantive part in a major film. She calls it "seriously nuts... seriously" and, with regard to playing a maid in her film, quotes Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who once said, "No work is insignificant. All labor that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance."

Winner: MATT LEBLANC (EPISODES)Commentary: Veteran funnyman LeBlanc wins his first Globe on his fourth nomination (he was previously nominated twice for Friends and once for Joey) for the first season of his new HBO show. He acknowledges the "great cast" with whom he works and "most importantly" his writers/producers (one of whom is Friends co-creator David Crane) for writing "a Matt LeBlanc who is way more interesting than the real thing... I was I was him!"

Emily Blunt introduces a clip of best picture (musical or comedy) nominee Bridesmaids ("the movie that finally proves, once and for all, to Hollywood and the world, that women, too, can poop their pants").

Winner: CLAIRE DANES (HOMELAND)Commentary: HFPA favorite Danes is now three for three at the Globes -- she previously won in this category 17 years ago, when she was just 15 years old, for My So-Called Life, and she won best actress in a TV mini-series or movie just last year for Temple Grandin. She thanks her parents (who she forgot to thank when she first won a Globe), her husband (actor Hugh Dancy), and the HFPA (for this "huge, huge honor"). Her show, meanwhile, winds up with two of the top three TV Globes for its first season, no small feat!

6:34pm PST: BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM – FILM

Nominees: The Flowers of War (China), In the Land of Blood and Honey (USA), The Kid with a Bike (Belgium), A Separation (Iran), The Skin I Live In (Spain) Presenter(s): Madonna Projection: A Separation

Winner: A SEPARATION (IRAN)Commentary: Asghar Farhadi, whose film previously won the Berlin Film Festival's top prize, thanks Sony Pictures Classics co-chief Michael Barker ("I think you like A Separation more than me") and describes "my people" as "truly peace-loving."

Gervais introduces the next presenter, "The Queen of Pop... not you, Elton [John]," but rather Madonna, who, he jokes, remains "just like a virgin." She takes the stage and replies, "Ricky, if I'm just like a virgin, then why don't you come over here and do something about it? I haven't kissed a girl in a few years... on TV."

Winner: JESSICA LANGE (AMERICAN HORROR STORY)Commentary: The popular veteran Lange wins her fifth Globe on her 12th nomination -- she's closing in on Meryl Streep's record of seven competitive Globe wins... but Streep could win another later tonight -- and highlights the work of her co-stars on the dark new show for which she won.

Winner: WOODY ALLEN (MIDNIGHT IN PARIS)Commentary: Allen -- in absentia -- wins his second Globe (both for screenplay -- his last came 26 years ago for The Purple Rose of Cairo) on his sixth screenplay nomination (and 13th overall). He has done slightly better at the Oscars, where he was accrued 21 nominations and three wins. This prize for Allen, along with the one he earned on Thursday at the Critics' Choice of Awards, positions him firmly as the frontrunner -- ahead of The Artist -- for the best original screenplay Oscar.

Ewan McGregor introduces a clip of best picture (musical or comedy) nominee 50/50.

Winner: THE ADVENTURES OF TINTINCommentary: Steven Spielberg's motion-capture 3D animated film upsets fellow Paramount film Rango, the presumptive favorite, which had won virtually every other award this season. (The HFPA loves nothing like an A-lister!) Spielberg thanks Peter Jackson, his closest collaborator on the film, as well as mo-cap actor extraordinaire Andy Serkis.

Gervais returns and tells the audience, "You're so much better than last year's audience -- they had a stick up their ass!" He then introduces George Clooney, who comes out on the stage using Pitt's walking stick returns the favor paid to him a few minutes ago by introducing a clip of the film in which Pitt stars, best picture (drama) nominee Moneyball.

Winner: PETER DINKLAGE (GAME OF THRONES)Commentary: Dinklage wins on his first Globe nomination, repeating his Emmy victory of a few months ago. He shares that his mother told him just before the show that Pearce was terrific and was going to win, and thanks her for "keeping him humble."

Winner: MICHELLE WILLIAMS (MY WEEK WITH MARILYN)Commentary: Williams, twice previously a Globe nominee, accepts the nominee from Rogen, who had taken the stage by saying "I currently trying to conceal a massive erection" (regarding Beckinsale) and introduced her film fecetiously as a "hilarious comedy." Williams thanks her daughter, first and foremost, for her love, patience, and for listening to months of bedtime stories in Marilyn Monroe's voice. She also emphasizes her gratitude to the HFPA for giving her "the same award [the same statuette but not for the same category] that Marilyn Monroe herself won over fifty years."

Brad Pitt introduces a clip of the best picture (drama) nominee The Ides of March, which was directed by his friend George Clooney.

Winner: “MASTERPIECE" (W.E)Commentary: HFPA favorite Madonna wins her second Globe in nine nominations for her song in W.E, a film that she also directed. (It did not make the short-list for the best original song Oscar, however, so it will not be repeating at the Academy Awards.)

Winner: LUDOVIC BOURCE (THE ARTIST)Commentary: Frenchman Bource, who has had a rollercoaster week (he was forced to defend his homage to Bernard Herrmann's Vertigo score, which was criticized by actress Kim Novak in a Variety ad several days ago), reads a written statement, blows kisses to his family back in Paris, and offers a shoutout to Herrmann as his friends at The Artist table cheer and take pictures.

Winner: KELSEY GRAMMER (BOSS)Commentary: Grammer, the star of a new show, but an old face to the HFPA (he had won twice and been nominated eight times before for Frasier), gives a brief but gracious acceptance speech.

Gervais chides winners for thanking too many people in their acceptance speeches, urging them to instead thank just their agent and God, who, in his case, he says, were equally responsible for his success. He then introduces one of the next two presenters, Melissa McCarthy (Bridesmaids), as someone who made her name by defecating in a sink... "which is still less demeaning that what most of you have done to make it in show business!"

Jake Gyllenhaal introduces a clip of best picture (musical or comedy) nominee My Week with Marilyn.

Hollywood Foreign Press Association president Dr. Aida Talka-O'Reilly is escorted to the stage by actor Jeremy Irons, who strokes her shoulder her as they describe the mission of the HFPA.

Freida Pinto introduces a clip of best picture (drama) nominee Midnight in Paris.

Winner: KATE WINSLET (MILDRED PIERCE)Commentary: Winslet wins her third Globe on her eighth nomination (she previously won in both the lead and supporting categories three years ago), repeating her Emmy victory of several months ago. She offers particular thanks to the HBO mini-series' writer/director Todd Haynes, among many others, before being played off the stage by the orchestra.

Winner: DOWNTON ABBEYCommentary: The award for the PBS period piece miniseries -- which previously won in this category at the Emmys -- is accepted by the Oscar-winning screenwriter Julian Fellowes (Gosford Park).

Julianne Moore and Rob Lowe take the stage to introduce this year's "second-generation performer" to perform as Miss Golden Globe. This year's honoree, the daughter of actress Andie McDowell, Rainey Qualley.

Winner: LAURA DERN (ENLIGHTENED)Commentary: Dern wins her third Globe on her fifth nomination. (She previously won for Recount three years ago and After Burn nine years ago.) Among the people she thanks are her mother, the actress Diane Ladd, and "all the whistleblowers out there -- bless you, [my character] couldn't exist without you!"

Winner: CHRISTOPHER PLUMMER (BEGINNERS) Commentary: Plummer, the heavy favorite, wins. Upon taking the stage, he apologizes to his competitors; salutes co-star Ewan McGregor ("that scene-stealing swine), writer-director Mike Mills, and Cosmo the dog; and acknowledges his wife of 43 years, "whose bravery and beauty haunts me still." It's worth noting that winning both the Critics' Choice and Golden Globe awards, as Plummer has now done, almost always assures an Oscar victory as well -- the first two awards have gone to the same person each of the past five years, and only one of those people -- Eddie Murphy (Dreamgirls) five years ago -- failed to win the third.

Depp introduces a clip of best picture (drama) nominee Hugo.

Gervais introduces Johnny Depp, whom he dumped on during last year's show, and asks him to his face, "Have you seen The Tourist yet?" To which Depp replied, "No."

Gervais gets a warm welcome from the audience as he takes the stage, sips a beer, and asks the audience, "Nervous? Don't be. This isn't about you!" "Tonight you get Britain's biggest comedian hosting America's second biggest awards show on the third highest-rated TV network... fourth, actually." He goes on to suggest, "The Golden Globes are to the Oscars what Kim Kardashian is to Kate Middleton, basically... a bit louder, a bit trashier, a bit drunker, and more easily bought... allegedly. Nothing's been proved!" He then turned on Eddie Murphy, who recently withdrew from hosting the Oscars: "When the man who said yes to Norbit says no to you, you know you're in trouble!" He added a bit of trivia: Eddie Murphy and Adam Sandler "played all the parts in The Help." He shared the rules that the HFPA asked him to follow this year: "No profanity... no nudity... no smut or innuendo... no libeling... and no mentioning Mel Gibson this year... especially Jodie Foster's Beaver." He goes on, "The only way Justin Bieber could have impregnated a girl would be if he borrowed one of Martha Stewart's turkey basters." And, finally, to the biggest laughs of all, he compares the characters from Boardwalk Empire -- foreigners who came to America and climbed their ways up to positions of power through violence -- to the members of the HFPA.

The NFL playoff game between the Green Baby Packers and New York Giants is still in progress, with the Giants -- heavy underdogs -- leading 30-13. Should the end of the game overlap with the beginning of Globes, it could put the family of best actress (drama) nominee Rooney Mara (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) in an awkward position, since Mara's uncle John Mara is the president, CEO, and co-owner of the Giants! I posted a Tweet asking which broadcast people thought the Maras would be watching, and almost immediately heard back from John Mara, Jr., a producer and Rooney's cousin, who insisted, "Both!"

Ricky Gervais, who will be serving as the host of the show for the third year in a row despite eviscerating the HFPA last year (he was asked back, despite their objections, at the insistence of NBC, for whom he provided strong ratings), just told NBC's pre-show commentator Natalie Morales, "I'm here to annoy them... I don't think I said anything that outrageous last year... it's about the same as last year... if anyone's offended, I don't care." You can be sure that the HFPA -- and many of this evening's nominees -- are sitting on pins and needles!

After driving past a ton of security forces and a wide assortment of protestors en route to the show, I picked up my press credential, cleared the metal detectors, and made my way into the interview room, where I'll be situated throughout the awards show. This is a spot located just off of the stage where talent is brought right after winning a Golden Globe, and where my colleagues and I get to pelt them with questions before they've even fully processed what's just happened to them, while simultaneously watching (on two closed-circuit TV screens) and tuning in (on special headphones) to the action unfolding on the stage. Right now, though, the room is about 90% empty, as most of the journalists credentialed to be in here are busy taking advantage of the massive food spread provided for us by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. More soon!